Slicing machine for bakery products



Dec. 27, 1938. L FERENCI SLICING MACH'JENE FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS Filed Aug. 20, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l x% my MN b INVENTQR ace/41:7; F

ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1938. L. FERENCI SLICING MACHINE FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS Filed Aug. 20, 1936 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

INVENTOR- WF BY; 2 z a g ATTORNEY Dec. 27,1938. FERENcI SLICING MACHINE 'FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 20, 1956 FIG. 3

FIG. 4

INVENTR M ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNli'ED STATES Lester Ferenci, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 20, 1936, Serial No. 96,937

9 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for slicing bread and other bakery products, its main object being to utilize the major portion of the cycle of the machine for the slicing operation irrespective of the width of the leaves. I-leretofore, leaves have been fed through the. slicer by gravity or belts, and the operation of the same has been more or less uncertain and erratic. In other machines the leaves have been advanced through the slicer by pusher members carried by conveyor chains or turrets; but this arrangement is necessarily designed to accommodate the widest loaves, wherefore the narrow loaves are likewise advanced at the same speed which causes the major portion of the machine cycle to be wasted. To this end provision is made for an easy and quick adjustment of the amplitude of the feeding stroke of the load conveyor, so that a wide loaf may be advanced at a greater speed than a narrow one. Thus the major portion, preferably about three-fourths of one machine cycle, may be utilized for slicing, irrespective of the width of loaves.

Still another object is to positively separate the leaves before they are pushed through the reciprocating slicer knives. For this purpose a row of loaves is placed in a chute having an abutment which blocks the leading loaf, and the latter is lifted over the abutment in proper timed relation and separated. With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention will now be described.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which like charactors of reference indicate the same or like parts:

Fig. l. is a side elevation of the slicing machine;

Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the same, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation of the adjustable infeed chute, taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevation of the loaf separating mechanism, taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of the same, taken on line 55 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional end elevation of the driving mechanism for the load feeding conveyor, taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

In the particular embodiment selected to illustrate the invention the entire slicing machine is supported by main side frame Ill (Fig. l). The slicing unit of the machine consists of a pair of vertically reciprocating knife frames H carrying Each knife frame H or cradle, as the case may be, is connected through links E3 to separate bell crank levers l4 fulcrumed on separate cross-shafts journaled in the frame If). Both of these levers are pivotally connected to a link is on which is pivoted a connecting rod i6 loosely mounted on a crank pin it fastened on a crank disk l8 which is fixed to a shaft it. The latter also carries a pulley 2G suitably driven by a series of V belts 2! or the like, from a pulley 22 attached to the shaft 23 of a motor 2 3. The driving mechanism of the slicing unit is therefore entirely independent from every other mechanism of the machine. All other mechanisms of the machine are actuated from the delivery conveyor shaft 25 which in turn by means of a sprocket 25 and a chain 25a is suitably driven from the main drive of a wrapping machine (not shown) with which the slicing machine is preferably connected.

For feeding the loaves L through the slicer knives l2, two rows of pusher fingers 2'! and 21a are employed. Each row of pusher fingers is actuated by a so-called four-square motion to feed alternate loaves, one rowv of pusher fingers returning under the slicer table while the other row of pusher fingers is feeding. The leaves L to be sliced are placed upon an inclined infeed chute which consists of a pair of side rails 28 and a bottom plate 29. The latter is fastened to a side bracket 3!! slidably supported on flanges iii of side frames Hi. The lower ends of the side rails 28 are pivotally connected tolevers 32 fulerumed. on a main frame ill, while the upper ends of said rails are provided with slots 33 receiving studs 34 held by lugs 35 of supporting bracket 30, thus permitting an, easy withdrawal of said guide rails when changing knife blades II on frames E2. The bottom plate 29 is sufficiently inclined to assure free sliding of the loaves by gravity. The lower end of said plate is slotted and provided with a slotted abutment 36 projecting into the path of the leading leaf to stop the sliding movement of the loaves in the chute. The entire chute is adjustable bodily to maintain the desired relation between the abutment 38 and the extreme backward position of the pusher fingers to suit the various widths of loaves. This adjustment of the infeed chute is accomplished by turning the hand wheel 31 mounted on a shaft 38 supported in bearing lugs 39 of one of the frames It]. To shaft 38 is fastened a worm 48 meshing with a worm wheel 4l mounted on a shaft 42 supported by bearings in the frames l8. To shaft 42 is attached a gear segment 43 meshing with a gear segment 44 (Figs. 1 and 2) mounted on a cross-shaft 45 supported by main frames l0. To shaft 45 are fastened a pair of levers 46 which, through links '41 (Figs. 1 and 3), are connected with lugs 48 of the slidable bracket 20 on which the infeed chute is supported. The lower end of bottom plate 29 rests freely on the slotted slicer table 49. Underneath the abutment 36 of bottom plate 28 is located a lifter comprising a row of escapement fingers 58 (Figs. 1, 4 and 5) corresponding with the slots of said abutment. Fingers 58 are pivoted to a shaft 5! held by a pair'of bearing lugs 52 attached on the bottom of plate 29. All of the fingers 58 are connected to each other by means of a cross bar 53 equipped with a pair of lugs 54 supporting a stud 55 on which is pivoted a link 56 through which fingers 58 are actuated from a cam lever 51 equipped with an arm 58 (Figs. 1 and 2) carrying a cam roller 59 which engages with a cam track 50 (Fig. 2) of a plate cam 5i mounted on the main cam shaft 62. It may be noted that the lever 51 is loosely mounted on shaft 42.

In properly timed relation, the escapement fingers 50 ascend and lift the leading loaf in the row of loaves in the infeed chute above the abutment 36, thus permitting the entire row to advance until the first loaf stops against one of the rows of pusher fingers which in the meantime have ascended through the slots in the portion of the plate beyond the abutment to a position in front of the first loaf. The escapement fingers 58 thereupon move forward and the entire row follows the first loaf and the advancing pusher fingers until the second loaf encounters the abutment 36 while the first loaf continues to slide and follow the pusher fingers on to the slicer table 49 to the extreme forward position thereof. Then the pusher fingers descend and return underneath the table 49 and bottom plate 29 to their starting position while the second loaf is similarly advanced over the abutment and a second row of pusher fingers ascends upwardly through slots in the plate 29 in front of the second loaf and advances along the plate and on to said table in back of the first loaf. This second row of fingers thus engages the first loaf and pushes the same partly through the reciprocating slicer knives l2, whereupon they descend and return to their initial position under the plate 29.

During the following cycle the first loaf is pushed completely through said slicer knives by the succeeding loaf and is finally delivered onto a continuously moving delivery conveyor 63 which may be of the chain type equipped with pusher bars 64 spaced sufficiently admit the maximum width of loaf therebetween (Fig. 1). The sliced loaf L is then engaged by one of the bars 64 of the conveyor 63 and a wrapping machine (not shown).

In order to maintain a properly timed relation between the wrapping machine and the loaf feeding and delivering mechanism of the slicfingers 21 in the same manner.

ing machine, the chain 26a. driving the delivery conveyor shaft 25 through the sprocket 26 thereon, is driven from a sprocket 65 mounted on the wrapping machine drive shaft '66. The delivery conveyor is also equipped with a pair of side guides 61 which are yieldingly mounted on a set of pivoted levers 68 and are constructed to be withdrawn in the same manner as the infeed chute side rails 28 (Fi l) in order to facilitate the removal of the slicer knives from the knife frames. To the continuously driven conveyor shaft 25 is furthermore keyed a sprocket 69 driving by means of a chain 10, a sprocket H loosely mounted on cam shaft 62 (Figs. 1 and 6). To sprocket II is attached a gear 12 (Fig. 6) meshing with a gear 13 mounted on a shaft 14 supported by a bracket '15 loosely mounted on shaft 62. Shaft 14 carries another gear 13 meshing with a gear ll which is fastened on the main cam shaft 62.

As mentioned heretofore, two sets of pusher fingers 21 and 21a are employed which are of identically the same construction and have the same function with only the difference in the timing of their operation. While one set of fingers protrudes above and moves along the table the other returns underneath the same, wherefore each set feeds the loaves alternately.

While in the following only one set of pusher fingers 21 and their operating mechanism will be described, all duplicate parts operating the second set of pusher fingers 12a. will have corresponding reference characters with the subscript a added thereto. Pusher fingers 21 are mounted on a horizontal supporting bar 18 (Figs. 1 and 2) held by a carriage T9 to which are pivoted four guide rollers 80, two of which engage with a groove in the top face of a rectangularly shaped guide rail 8|, while the other two rollers engage with a groove in the bottom face of said rail 8|. The latter is attached to and actuated by a vertical operating bracket 82. For this purpose, the free end of the bracket is pivoted to one arm of a bell crank lever 83, the other arm of the latter being connected by a link 84 to one arm 85 of a cam lever 86 carrying a cam roller 81 engaging with a cam track 88 of a cam 89 mounted on the main cam shaft 62. The operating lever 85 thus causes the guide rail 8| to vertically reciprocate and thereby also actuates the pusher During its 'vertical motion the rail 8| is guided by a pair of rollers 90 (Figs. 1 and 2) which are pivoted to the same and engage with grooves of a pair of vertical guide bars 9| fastened to the main frames Ill.

The horizontal reciprocation of pusher fingers 21 and carriage 19 is caused by a vibrating lever 92 connected to said carriage by means of a link 93. Lever 92' is loosely mounted on the shaft 42 and is provided with an arcuate slot I04 concentric with the pin connecting link 95 and lever 96 (Fig. 1). With this slot engages a roller 94 mounted on one end of an operating link 95 which is pivoted at its other end to an oscillating arm 95 actuated by a cam lever 9'! carrying a cam roller 98 engaging with a cam track 99 of a cam I88 mounted on the main cam shaft 82. The cam levers 96 and 86, as well as the levers 96a and 86a which actuate the other set of pusher fingers 21a, are loosely mounted on a cross shaft l8! supported by the main frames It).

In order to utilize the major portion of the cycle of the machine for the slicing operation, the amplitudes of the horizontal reciprocation of the pusher fingers 21 and 21a have to be adjusted in accordance with the width of the loaves to be sliced. A check link "12 connecting the operating link $5 with a control lever l 33' fastened on shaft 52, controls the position of roller 94 in slot H14 of lever 92 thereby limiting the movement of the latter and thus controlling the stroke of carriage it and pusher fingers 2?. A control lever [03a is also fastened on the shaft 42 and similarly linked to the link 95a to control the amplitude of the horizontal reciprocation of the carriage 19a and the fingers 2'la.

By turning the hand wheel 31 which, as described heretofore, actuates shaft 42 to which control levers IE3 and [8311 are fixed, the check links Iii-2' and mm are thereby raised or lowered, thus efiecting a change in the position of operating links 95' and 95a and their rollers 95 and 94a in slot I04 and Ma of lever 92 and 92a. As the control mechanism for positioning the infeed chute is also connected to shaft 42, the turning of hand-wheel 3? assures a proper setting of the infeed chute and the feeding stroke of the pusher fingers 2? and Zla in one operation.

Upon varying of the stroke of the latter, all cams on cam shaft 62 should be advanced or retarded correspondingly, the proper setting of which is also accomplished when turning hand wheel 3?. To shaft 38, carrying hand wheel 31, is keyed another worm I58 meshing with a worm segment E96 which is attached to bracket 15, the turning of which, through gears 13, 16 and 11 (Fig. 6) causes the proper positioning of cam shaft Thus the operation of the pusher fingers 27 and 277a is advanced or retarded relative to the pusher bars 64 on conveyor 63, but the point at which they descend at the end of their feeding stroke remains constant. These and the operation of the escapement fingers 50 is correspondingly varied to maintain them in synchronisrn with the pusher fingers. In this manner the loaves will be delivered to the conveyor 63 in the proper position in front of the pusher bars 5 throughout the range of adjustment.

Since the bottom plate 29 of the feed chute the slicer table 49 are partly slotted, crumbs will fall through the slots. These crumbs are collected on an inclined chute lll'l (Fig. 1) placed underneath said slots. Any other crumbs collected in said chute iii'l will accumulate in a crumb tray H38 (Fig. 1) located under the machine.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a slicer, of mechanism for periodically pushing loaves through said slicer whereby each loaf will be sliced, said mechanism including a pair of members alternately actuated to engage successive loaves, and a pair of four-way motion linkages connected to said members respectively to cause them to alterna'tely engage the trailing face of successive loaves and push the same into said slicer and then disengage and retreat from the loaf, means for adjusting the said linkages to vary the movement of said members, and means to drive said members at difierent speeds, corresponding to the various loaf-widths, whereby the period required for slicing each loaf occupies a constant interval or" time irrespective of the width of the loaves.

2. The combination with the drive shaft of a bread Wrapping machine, of a slicer, a continuously traveling conveyor driven from said shaft at a constant speed, said conveyor being arranged to receive sliced loaves sidewise from said slicer and provided with equally spaced pushers extending transversely thereof, and speed-changing mechanism driven from said drive shaft for advancing loaves sidewise through said slicer at different rates of speed, but in constant time intervals, .and thus delivering them to said conveyor, in proper relation to said pushers, said mechanism moving intermittently.

3'. In a slicing machine, the combination with an inclined chute adapted to receive a row of leaves in side by side relationship, said chute being provided with an abutment projecting in frontof the leading loaf in said chute, of a lifter operating periodically to raise the leading loaf in said row above said abutment, whereby the same will pass over the abutment and thus be separated from said row, a slicer, a continuously traveling conveyor provided with transverse pusher bars, and arranged to receive the sliced loaves sidewise from said slicer, and mechanism for advancing successive separated loaves through said slicer to effect their slicing and the delivery thereof to said conveyor in proper relation to the pusher bars thereon, and means for varying the periodicity of said lifter and the amplitude of the advancing movement of said mechanism to de- :5.

row of loaves in side by side relationship, said 1 chute being provided with an abutment projecting in front of the leading leaf in said chute, of a lifter periodically operating to raise the leading loaf in said row above said abutment whereby the same will pass over the abutment and thus I- be separated from said row, a slicer, a traveling conveyor provided with transverse pusher bars and arranged to receive the sliced loaves sidewise from said slicer, mechanism for advancing successive separated loaves through said slicer to effect their slicing and the delivery thereof to said conveyor in proper relation to the pusher bars thereon, and means for adjusting the position of said chute relative to said slicer and varying the periodicity of said lifter and the amplitude of the advancing movement of said mechanism, to deliver loaves of various widths in proper relation to the pusher bars on said conveyor.

5. In a slicing machine, the combination with mechanism for advancing loaves through the slicer, of means for adjusting said mechanism to vary the amplitude of its movement in each cycle of the machine, and means to drive said mechanism at different rates of speed corresponding to various loaf widths, whereby the period for slicing each loaf occupies a constant interval of time.

6. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicer, of a device for separating individual loaves from a row, and mechanism for pushing successive separated loaves in constantly upright position th ough said slicer whereby each loaf will be sliced at a predetermined speed, said pushing mechanism being provided with means adjustable to retard or advance its point of engagement with the loaves and correspondingly vary the .amplitude of its movement to permit th period required for completely slicing one loaf to occupy a constant interval of time irrespective of the width of the loaves.

7. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicer, of a device for separating individual loaves from a row, and mechanism for pushing separated loaves positively through said slicer, so that each loaf will be sliced in contact sidewise with a preceding loaf and with a following loaf all) successively; said mechanism including a pair of members alternately actuated to engage successively alternating separated loaves, a pair of four- Way linkages connected to said members respectively to cause them to alternately engage the trailing face of successive loaves, and the leading faces of alternating loaves, and thus to push the same into said slicer then disengage and retreat from the loaf, and means for adjusting said linkages to vary the amplitude of the movement of said members.

8. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicer, of a device for separating individual loaves from a row, a delivery conveyor adjacent the delivery end of said slicer provided with flights spaced to receive the sliced loaves therebetween, and mechanism for pushing successive separated loaves through said slicer whereby the loaves will be sliced and delivered to said conveyor, said mechanism including pushers engaging successive separated loaves and being adjustable to retard or advance their point of engagement With the loaves and correspondingly vary the amplitude of their loaf advancing movement,

said mechanism including also means to drive said pushers at difierent speeds increasing with the increased width of the loaves, thereby to cause the period required for slicing one loaf to occupy a constant interval of,time and to deliver the sliced loaves in proper relation to the flights of said conveyor.

9. In a bread slicing machine, the combination with a slicer; means to receive, and to feed towards said slicer, a row of loaves, in constantly upright, contacting, side by side relation; mechanism for pushing positively through said slicer, in continuous series at all times, a plurality of loaves from said row, in contacting upright, side by side relation; means to advance from said slicer each completely sliced loaf; said firstnamed feeding means operating to advance intermittently from said row each leading loaf thereof, thereby to replenish recurrently the quantum of loaves being so pushed in continuous series through said slicer, said first-named loaf feed including a movable inclined chute adapted to receive a row of loaves in side by side relationship, and whereon said loaves are gravity-biased towards said slicer, said chute being provided with a fixed abutment projecting in front of the leading loaf in said chute, and adapted to incapacitate said gravity feed for each loaf, a lifter periodically operating to raise the leading loaf in said row above said abutment whereby the same will pass over the abutment and thus be again fed by gravity past the abutment and thereby separated from said row, mechanism for advancing successive separated loaves through said slicer to effect the slicing thereof, means for adjusting the periodicity of said lifter, and the amplitude of the advancing movement of said mechanism, and means for driving said loaf advancing mechanism at different speeds corresponding to the various loaf widths.

LESTER FERENCI. 

